Aero vehicle



May 28, 1929. w JOHNSTON 1,714,561

AERQ VEHICLE Filed Dec. 28, 1927 5 sneet's-snet 1 May 28, 1929.

w. JOHNSTON AERO VEHICLE Filed Dec. 28, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 28, 19 29.

W. JOHNSTON AERO VEHICLE Filed Dec. 28, 192'? 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 28, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,714,561 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON, HONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII. v

AERO VEHICLE.

Application filed December 28, 1927. SerialNo. 243,150.

vance in any direction, and of poising at any altitude above the ground; and whloh, With- 1 all the above characteristics, shall have a relatively high coefiicient of safety.

A further object of the invention is to produce an aero vehicle capable of flying close'to the ground, that being a characteristic conducing to safety. 1 V

A further object is to producea vehicle of the above class whose motions are all effected by an air pump of special design, characterized by high efliciency, simplicity of construction, compactness, and relatively small weight. 7

Further objects of the invention will be set forth in the following description, in which reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein is illustrated what is re-' garded at the present time as the preferred embodiment of my said invention; it being understood, however, that said embodiment is given by way of example only, and not as lim iting the invention to the details of construction and arrangement of the various parts thereof.

In said drawings:

I Fig.1 is a top plan view of the vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on i the central line 22 thereof;

Fig. 3 is a. vertical cross section on line 33 in elevation looking forward, as indicated by arrows (Fig. 1).

Figs. 4, 4 are details of the revolving shutoff. for, the suction chambers Fig. 5 is a detail in cross-section of one of "the suction chambers. 7

The working parts of the vehicle are 0 mounted upon a frame-work 12 of any approved construction, wherein rigidity and lightness are combined. It is composed of suitable verticle and horizontal members, which can be arranged in various ways. It is preferably provided. with wheels 14: for loco motion on the ground.

Power for levitation and propulsion of the vehicle is supplied by an engine 15, preferably of the high speed air-cooled type; which may be of any standard make, and may be mounted onany convenient'part of the frame; As

shown, engine 15 is placed where the central longitudinal plane of the vehicle inter-sectsv the central cross plane thereof, that being the location which conduces best to stability. The main power shaft 16 of the engine may be provided with clutches, as at 17, 17, for coupling and uncoupling; said clutches being connected for simultaneous operation, as'well understood. From main shaft 16 power is transmitted to the moving parts of the air pumping mechanism by means of suitable gearing, as hereinafter pointed out in detail.

The movements of the vehicle are efiected by the action of air currents, which are drawn 1n by the suction apparatus hereafter described, either downwardly (for Vertical motion upward or for sustained poising) or lengthwise (for motion either forward or backward) or laterally (forsteering, or

change of direction horizontally). By suitable combinations of these motions the vehicle may be caused to move'in any direction, vertically, horizontally, or obliquely.

The several air ducts or passages are preferably, as shown in the accompanying drawings, connected together in such manner as to form one intercommunicating system; but this part of the mechanism can take a variety of forms, being susceptible of many difierent arrangements. That shown in the drawings is therefore to be taken merely as an illus trative example. i g As there shown, a duct ortube 20 extends V lengthwise of the vehicle from front to rear,

and is'provided at each end with an air -intake or traction head ica'sing21, presently'to be describe, There may be two or even more, of these longitudinaliducts. r Associated with thelongitudinal duct 20 are two vertical ducts or tubes 22.- These may be disposed one on each side of'duct 20 and equidistant therefrom; and they are connected therewith by lateral ducts'23. Thus the air that is drawn in by Way of duct'20, whether at its forward or at its rear end, will divide at the junction with cross ducts 23, and a part (approximately half) will passto one of the vertical ducts-22 and part to the other. Each of these vertical ducts branches at its lower end into'two ducts or tubes (24:, 24

and 25, 25). Each of these. four branch. i i

ducts connects with and discharges into a suction chamber. There are-four of these chambers, and they are of identical. construction, each being annular. in form. and circular in cross sectlon (Flg. 5). The four chaml vice consisting of a single disk-shaped vane or blade 30. Vane 30 fits, asclosely as consistent with freedom of movement, the interior of the circular chamber, and is attached to ahorizontal circular-web or disk 31', carried'by avertical spindle 87, mounted in antifriction bearings 83, located at the center of the chamber. It will be understood that this part of the apparatus, to wit, the suction chambers and their enclosed'suction mechanism, must be constructed with the utmost nicety, with a View to. strength, lightness, and exactitude of measurements, in order to assure the most effective operation. The chamber may be made conveniently in halves,

-' 'which are joined together in a horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 5.. The support 31 for the suction disk or vane 30 is preferably a circular web composed of two metal disks, bulging out from each other, as shown at the.

central part thereof, where they join the hub.

Care should be taken that this revolving suction member be well balanced; for it must rotate athigh speed.

Thepower, transmitting connections for these rotatory. suction members consist of horizontal cross shafts 36 (Figs. 1 and .3) connected by bevel; gears with mainshaft 16,

vertical shafts 37, four in number geared to cross shaft 36 (Fig. 3), the revolving suction member being mounted'on the upper end of the corresponding shaft 37.

s In association with each. pair of suction chambers, 26, 26 and 27,27) is-a revolving shut-off 40, 40, which is in the form of-a disk,

,gs'hownhinfdetail in Fig. 4, each disk being mounted on'one end of cross shaft 42 (Figs.

lliZLIlCl'B); which is driven from one of the cross shafts 37-, throughthe obliquely disposedarbor 613 (Fig. 2); the connections be; tween these'veral shafts being by means of,

bevel gears, as shown. Shut-off disk 40 cooperates -with suction chambers 26, 26, and

disk 10 with clian'ibers27, 27 (Fig. 1).. Eachdisk 40, 40% extends onone sidethrough l a narrow vertical slit in one of its pair of suction chambers, I and on v the other side through alike slit in the other of the pair; and .its locationrelatively to said chambers is such (see Fig.1) that it constitutes a par- -;tition,or ShUlFOffibGtXVGGIli118 inlet 24* (or 25) and; the outlet 28-thereiof. Thus the air is. compelled totake the direction of the ar tion of its effective action.

rows, Fig. 1, which is the direction of rotation of the suction disk or vane 30.

Each shut-off disk 10, 40 has a notch 40 4) whose form and dimensions are approximately the same as those of the suction disk 30, being only enough larger to permit the free passage of said disk through the same; and the parts are so disposed relatively to each other, and their respective move ments are so timed, that the crossing-of the suction chamber by the notch 10 synchronizes with the crossing of the plane of shut off disk l0 by suction vane 80. Thus the partition across the suction chamber, constituted by disk 40 and which separates'the inlet from the adjacentoutlet, is in effect removed for just the fraction of a second that is necessary for the passage of vane 30, an d is instantly restored. And it will be observed that vane 30 itself closes the aperture formed by notch as it passes through the same.

Furthermore, the respective suction vanes v 30 of each pair of chambers are so disposed relatively to each other and to their shut-off disk 40 (or d0) that notch 40 coincides with each of the pair at the precise moment its vane 80' is crossing the plane, of said disk.

' Thus there is no interruption to the current of air passing 1 through the air ducts, and practicially no fluctuation in the pressure of air therein when, at each revolution of disks e0, 10, the notch 40 thereincoincides with the interior of the suction chambers. Hence while the meehanism'is in operation, each suction vane 30 is, forthe greater part of its circular travel, drawing air into its chani her through the inlet thereof, and driving the air in front of it against disk 40, whereby the air is diverted into discharge pipe 28. It is only during that small part of its path when it is approaching the plane of disk L0,

and crossing it, that there is any interru'p Each of the main a-irducts 20 and 22 has at its inlet end what may betermed a traction casing, head. These are, or may be, of -1dentical. construction, excepting thatone of the tractionheads of the longitudinal air duct, preferably the forward head 21,. is provided with lateral intakes to. serve for steering purposes. Therefore a description of said forward casing head 21 of the longitudinalv duct 20 will suflice as a description of all.

Said casing head 21 is larger in. diameter than duct 20, and is joined thereto by an inclined shoulder 4-5 (Figs. 1 and 2) the shapes and relative dimensions being such as to -utiliae most effectively the difference between the internal and external pressures,-to which difference the propulsion of the vehicle is'due;

The casing head is partly closed by a cap 46,- preferably of conical shape, so as to ofier minimum resistance to the atmosphere. Its area is such that the effective area of the inlet 7 is somewhat less than the cross-sectional area of the duct 20. Cap 46 may be attached to casing head 21 in any convenient way, as by ribs or strips 47 (Fig. 1).

Each casing head is provided with a valve or damper 48, which is connected by wires 50, with suitable controlling levers 51, which are, or may be, of a type commonly used in automobiles of standard make, and hence require no description. Control levers 51 are located within reach of the operator when seated upon seat 52 (Figs. 2 and 3). It will be understood that, for direct vertical motion upwards valves 48 of vertical ducts 22 will be opened, and the down rush of air through said ducts, combined with the reaction of the currents of air issuing from discharge pipes 28, will cause the vehicle to rise, the speed bein determined by the amount of the opening of valves or dampers 48.

F or forward movement valve d8 of forward casing head 21 will be opened and that of the rear casing head 21 will be closed. For a backward movement the rear valve would be opened and the forward valve closed.

For the purpose of steering in a horizontal or approximately horizontal plane, the forward casing head 21 has two horizontal valved inlets 53, one on each side; and it will be obvious that, to cause the vehicle to turn as on an imaginary pivot, one of these inlets will be opened and the other closed; and that the turn will be made in the direction of the inlet that is opened.

Although it is not absolutely necessary that the aircurrents enteringby thehorizontal duct should unite with those drawn in throughthe vertical ducts, yet there are important advantages resulting from that arrangement. In the first place it is possible with the air ducts so arranged to make one pumping system serve for all purposes and directions of movement. Furt iermore, by deflecting the air currents that enter horizontally and ejecting them downwardly they contribute to the uplift or buoyancy of the vehicle; for there must always be a lift or upward pull suflicient to overcome the force of gravity when the vessel is moving in any direction or is simply poised in the air, and to diminish the force of gravity when a landing is being made.

As shown in Fig. 2, the rear casing head 21 is at a higher level than the forward casing head 21; it being believed that a more efiective utilization of the air pressure during the forward motion of the vehicle is thereby obtained than if both were at the same level.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in any way to the number, dimensions, or the relative positions of the longitu dinal and vertical air'ducts, since it will require experiments under actual service conditions to determine, for example, what should be the cross-sectional areas of the several air ducts in order to obtain the best results.

It is obvious that the air-suction mechanism herein described, which constitutes a compound or quadruplex air-pump, may be used for purposes other than the propulsion of aero vehicles.

I claim:

1. In an aero vehicle, the combination of a longitudinal air duct and vertical air ducts disposed one on each side of said longitudinal duct and connected therewith by branch pipes, thus forming a single intercommuniinto a single intercommunicating system,

power driven suction mechanism connected with said ducts, and controlling devices for the valves in said inlets.

3. The combination with vertical air ducts and exhaust mechanism connected therewith, of a longitudinal air duct also connected with said exhaust mechanism, and having a valved opening at each end, said longitudinal air duct being provided at one end with lateral valved openings projecting horizontally in opposite directions, and controlling mechanism for all the valves. Y

4. The combination with vertical air ducts and exhaust mechanismtherefor, of a longitudinal air duct also connected with said exhaust mechanism, valved inlets at the upper end of each vertical duct and a valve inlet at each end of said longitudinal duct, the forward end thereof being provided also with lateral inlets, both in a horizontal plane'but opening in opposite directions.

5. In an aero vehicle, the combination of vertical and longitudinal air ducts, a plurality of annular suctionchambers connected by branch pipes severally with said ducts, and. having each a discharge opening, a revolving vane in each chamber, a shut-0E for each chamber normally separating the inlet from the discharge opening thereof, and means for momentarily removing said shutoff at each revolution of said vane to permit the passage thereof.

6. The combination with the air ducts of a plurality of annular suction chambers, each communicating by a branch pipe with said air ducts and having each a discharge opening, a revolving vane in each chamber fitting the interior thereof, a rotating shut off between the inlet and outlet of each chamber,said shut-off having an aperture which synchronizes with the traverse of said vane across the plane of the shut-01f and is of size and shape to permit the free passage of said vane, and power driven means for operating said vanes and shut-off.

7. The combination with the air ducts of a pair of annular suction chambers having each a revolving vane that fits the interior thereof, a shut oii' disk rotating in a plane transverse to that of said chambers, and extending across the path of both vanes, said. disk having an aperture which synchronizes with the traverse of each vane across the plane of the disk, and power driven means for operating said vanes and disk.

8. The combination with the air ducts of two pairs of suction chambers of annular form having each a revolving;' vane that tits the interior thereof, power driven means includin e" shafts and gearing tor rotati said vanes, a counter-shaft, and a disk at each endof said shaft, each dish extending across the path of two of said vanes, the walls of the chambers being slit to admit thereof, and

constituting a shut-0ft for both chambers of a pair, each disk having an aperture of the proper shape and size to permit the passage of the revolving vane, the movements of the several parts being so timed that the aperture coincides with the diameter of each chamber at the instant the vane is crossing the plane of the disk.

9. In an acre vehicleshaving vertical and horizontal air ducts and power driven suction mechanism connected therewith, a traction casing head for the inlet ends of the several air ducts, said casing head being of larger diameter than the duct to which it is attached, and having a conical cap which closes a part of the area of the air inlet.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 

